mr. blumenauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i will conclude by just saying that i do appreciate the rapid response of the committee, the bipartisan support to honor the generosity of americans in both these tragedies, clean up the legislation and move it forward. but i hope, mr. speaker, that this is a symbol of a longer term commitment on the part of this congress, that we match the generosity of spirit of americans, of our partners overseas, we've seen other countries step forward along with charities and other nongovernmental organizations. i'm hopeful that we will exhibit a commitment to follow through after the initial dust has settled to be full partners with other countries, with the people in chile and haiti, to deal with the long and difficult recovery. lives have been traumatized, there are still people at risk from disease, i am hopeful that we in congress will have the support to follow through, to make sure that the united states government is a full partner with these other critical areas, to make sure that we mak

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this. i continue to have profound reservations about our troop commitments first in iraq and more recently with president obama's decision to escalate our presence in afghanistan. history suggests we will not be successful in stabilizing afghanistan with military force. no one has, i don't think anyone ever will. afghanistan today is perhaps the most corrupt country in the world, ranked next to last out of 180, according to transparency international. if you have a culture of corruption it's hard to plant seeds, it's hard to have allies remain loyal. global economic development through roads and watt railroad not he isow teric abstract issues. these are things that make a difference between people being thugs and in some cases feeding their family in any way they can, having little sympathy for infidels and drug problems. the magnitude of spending that we're involved with here needs to be put in p

mr. blumenauer: will the gentleman yield? mr. nunes: yes. mr. lumenauer: the bill includes $77 billion of transportation funding. that was my reference, and i think the experts agree that it would be hundreds of thousands of jobs, if not a million, saved or created with that transportation funding. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy. mr. nunes: thank you. well, i'd like to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. nunes: at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, a member of the ways and means committee, ms. brown-waite. ms. brown-waite: the gentlewoman from -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. brown-waite: i want to make clear there are some items in this bill, provisions that everyone in this chamber could support. providing tax relief to small businesses is good. this raises an important question. if the majority recognizes that lowering taxes for businesses is a good -- is good for employment and certainly good for the economy,

mr. blumenauer: will the gentleman yield? mr. nunes: yes. mr. blumenauer: the bill includes $77 billion of transportation funding. that was my reference, and i think the experts agree that it would be hundreds of thousands of jobs, if not a million, saved or created with that transportation funding. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy. mr. nunes: thank you. well, i'd like to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. nunes: at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, a member of the ways and means committee, ms. brown-waite. ms. brown-waite: the gentlewoman from -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. brown-waite: i want to make clear there are some items in this bill, provisions that everyone in this chamber could support. providing tax relief to small businesses is good. this raises an important question. if the majority recognizes that lowering taxes for businesses is a good -- is good for employment and certainly good for the economy,

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 45 seconds. mr. blumenauer: today's victory for health care reform and coverage for 32 million americans is not just the culmination of 15 months of hard work in this congress. it represents the historic accomplishments sought by presidents and members of congress dating back to teddy roosevelt, that the accomplish was achieved in the midst of difficult economic times, a toxic political environment without any bipartisan support makes it all the more remarkable. passage tonight will start making a difference for our families this year, and most important, the bill is fully paid for, we're reforming medicare, we improve the quality of health care in this country and we reduce the deficits. tonight's victory starts america on the road to better health and economic security. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. before i yield i'd like to remind the chair that medicare and social security passed with a large bipartisan majo

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for three minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this and his leadership guiding the rule for it. this is important legislation for us to consider. it's ironic that our friends are saying that the solution they want is more tax cuts. you know, if you look at the jobs trajectory in the clinton administration where the tax levels were what we were talking about they're going to be reverting to under the law written by the republicans, by the way, compared to what happened in the bush administration where spending went up, taxes were cut, the economy collapsed and we lost -- we had the lowest rate of job creation even though we took their prescription and cut taxes for all sorts of special interests. it is important that we are moving forward from this point by paying for the things that we do. it's a hard lesson but it worked in the eight years of the clinton administration where we had deficits reduced every single year until at the end we were a

mr. blumenauer: will the gentleman yield? mr. nunes: yes. mr. menauer: the bill includes $77 billion of transportation funding. that was my reference, and i think the experts agree that it would be hundreds of thousands of jobs, if not a million, saved or created with that transportation funding. i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy. mr. nunes: thank you. well, i'd like to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. nunes: at this point i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from florida, a member of the ways and means committee, ms. brown-waite. ms. brown-waite: the gentlewoman from -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. brown-waite: i want to make clear there are some items in this bill, provisions that everyone in this chamber could support. providing tax relief to small businesses is good. this raises an important question. if the majority recognizes that lowering taxes for businesses is a good -- is good for employment and certainly good for the economy, th

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for four minutes. mr. ppreciate the gentlelady's courtesy and i appreciate the opportunity to follow my dear friend from ohio, with whom i look forward to the day when we come to this floor and we can deal with a broad-based approach to renew and rebuild america. that's how we're really going to create jobs. i commend the gentleman from ohio for having the courage to stand up to his leadership when they tried to pull the plug on extending the highway transportation bill. and i think it's interesting that he has a proposal that he would like to transfer some of this money into infrastructure. would that we were playing with two chambers that were playing by the same rules and committed to the well being of america. i'd be happy to see that happen. one of the reasons we have the bill before us today in the form is that we've seen what's happened when one member of the senate decides that his personal peak is more important than millions of people, their welfare, causing thousands of people to be laid off, sto

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized for one minute. mr. blumenauer: thank you. there's a certain amount of irony hearing our friends on the other side of the aisle talking about a recovery package that hasn't worked as well as all of us would like because it was deliberately scaled down at the effort to try and secure republican support. more that was put in tax cuts than what we would have liked in infrastructure to rebuild and renew america. we know if it would have been done the way the democrats wanted it would have worked better. but nonetheless, it -- i hate to think of what would happen in the state of michigan without this money. in the state of oregon without this money. three brief points. one, by putting more money here in infrastructure, we're going to be putting people back to work. second, this is fully paid for, unlike what we've seen with the efforts of our friends on the republican side of the aisle when they were in charge. and third, the pay-for is incorporating recommendations that came from the bush administration treas

mr. blumenauer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. blumenauer: i appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this rule and for his unequivocal call for being realistic and some of the outrageous things we have heard on the floor. i just heard my friend from texas talk about demonizing the canadian system and calling it socialized medicine. it's really kind of ironic first of all canada has basically medicare for all. it is a government funded insurance program but can madeans pick who they want -- but canadians pick who they want to be their doctor just like americans who are on medicare pick their doctor. and i would say, frankly, that most americans would be happy with the overall outcome of the canadian health care system. they pay less, they get sick less often, when they do get sick they get well faster, and they live longer than americans. the sad truth is that our nonsystem of health care, which is very good for veterans, it's pretty good for senior citizens , but for other americans, particularly approachin

mr. blumenauer: mr. speaker. mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? mr. blumenauer: i respectfully request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring the vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on the question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by congressman poe. mr. poe: please join me in the pledge. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, -- i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized. ms. schwartz: today we

mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: thank you, madam speaker.this week marks the homestretch of the health care debate. reform will pass if people focus on the facts and the opportunities. no more outsourcing our analysis to the talking heads. now, facts matters and the american people should find them. health care is in crisis, not just because we pay more for mediocre results in our health care system. the number of uninsured americans is increasing, soon to reach 50 million americans. and health insurance is getting worse for those who already have it. it's more expensive, they have higher co-pays, higher premiums, then people have to fight to get their health bills paid. the united states is the only industrialized country where people go bankrupt from health care. this year 1,000 people that i represent back in oregon will go bankrupt from health care costs, and most of them will have health insurance. medicare is a great success story. most of us recognize that. it was enacted over many of the same objections that i'm now hearing from my r

mr. blumenauer. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your courtesy, and permitting me to speak on and appreciate you bringing it forward. because this is an example of the disconnect between some of our well intended, i'm sure, rhetoric from our friends on the other side of the aisle. and the reality that is faced by the american public. this notion somehow about being concerned about government bureaucrats coming between people and their health care. as you and others have pointed out already, this is happening every day. only, they are not a government agency with rules of the road to have been established through a democratic process, these are would have taken place within the insurance industry itself. and nowhere is this more insidious than it does with preexisting conditions. members of congress can take off the number of our colleagues, i got over 100, who would be uninsurable but for government insurance that we get like every other federal employee. people with heart problems, cancer, multiple sclerosis, artificia